Chapter Six
Roxanne couldn't believe it. He'd let go. After all the things she had done for him in her life and he let go. What would happen to her? Would she be suspended between worlds or would she simply die? Or worse... What if she had never transported at all and would open her eyes to find herself in her living room, back in her ultimate nightmare. How could he betray her...?
She nearly jumped out of her skin when a bark sounded at her right. Roxanne opened her eyes and found herself facing a chipped brick wall. What was this? She slowly glanced to her right to find a large black dog staring up at her. If she wasn't mistaken, she saw the animal make as close as a smug grin as it could as it sat there.
"I thought you let go of me..." she said, then looked around. "Is this London...? Kind of shady, don't you think?"
Sirius had brought them to what seemed to be a musty alley way. There was a dumpster against the far wall, a few of the bags of garbage scattered around the overflowing bin. The smell was almost as pleasant as the scenery. Roxanne hoped to God that this wasn't the place Sirius had meant for them to be taken. She looked over at the dog and he gave another bark. He began to walk towards the exit of the alley, Roxanne in tow after she remembered she was to follow him.
Once they turned the corner of the alley, the scenery made a drastic change. Roxanne froze on the spot when she laid eyes on the new environment. It was a long, wide pathway lined with various shops and restaurants and galleries all selling the strangest things Roxanne had ever come across in her life. People crowded nearly every inch of the path, proving to be as odd and various as the stores. Most of them wore long robes, even in the heat of the summer, which Roxanne found a little impractical. Some donned pointed hats or scarves. Others carried broomsticks, birdcages and shopping bags. She was positive that this wasn't London. She'd visited London enough to be sure she wouldn't have missed this place.
She felt a nudge on the back of her leg and looked down to find Sirius staring impatiently back at her.
"Sorry, Snuffles..." she muttered, following the Animagus through the crowd.
Roxanne allowed herself to peer into store front windows as she passed by. Flourish and Blotts caught her interest, as it was a magical bookstore. She swore she saw a store selling broomsticks, but owned it up to her current confusion about her situation. Sirius would have a lot of explaining to do. Olivander's Wand Shop stood out among the others since she recognized the wands in the window as the item Peter Pettigrew had used to kill all those Muggles twelve years ago. There were stores selling clothing, candy, various animals, caldrons and potion supplies. And those were only the items she could recognize.
Sirius barked to bring her attention to the building before them. Roxanne looked up at the tall, white building as thought it looked a bit like a castle. Obviously, this was where she was to exchange her 'Muggle' money. She followed the dog up to the front door and did a double take at what she had mistaken for a rather grotesque statue. The creature had a rather cruel face, with a long, protruding nose, pointed ears and a set of beady, unreadable eyes. It looked at the dog beside Roxanne with a frown, then up at Roxanne with the same look. This was when she realized she had been gawking. She quickly averted her gaze.
"Could you tell me where to exchange my er... Muggle money?" she asked quickly.
It narrowed its eyes at her suspiciously a moment. "Inside. First counter to your right."
"Thanks, mate," she replied, hurrying into the bank.
Roxanne walked across the marble floors, black and white sneakers squeaking against the polished stone irritably. She turned to the first counter to her right and froze again. There was another one of those creatures standing there, looking at her expectantly. Roxanne shook off her surprise before she offended... whatever it was.
"Umm I'd like to exchange some Muggle money," she said, forcing herself to look at it.
"Very well," it croaked, peering over its glasses at her.
The girl set her bag on the counter and sifted through its contents until she had the three wads of bills and her wallet in her hands. Roxanne neatly piled the bills together and handed them to the troll.
"One moment, please," he droned, going into a room behind him.
Roxanne glanced down at the dog sitting by her feet. Sirius looked back, wagging his black tail. He let out a yawn and had the gall to curl up into a ball by Roxanne's feet while she waited for a goblin to return with her money. The Animagus knew he would have a lot of explaining to do once he was in a place safe enough to transform. He thought Roxanne was handling all of this pretty well, considering he had forgotten to warn her about the trolls.
A few minutes passed before the troll came back to the counter. He set two sacks before Roxanne and returned to what he had been doing before she arrived at the counter, as if she wasn't still standing there. Roxanne didn't mind. She rather the creature keep its beady little eyes off of her. Out of curiosity, she peered into one of the sacks. What she found was a confusing medley of gold and silver coins none of which she recognized.
"Uh... excuse me, sir?" she asked the troll.
It glanced up at her, annoyed.
"You see, I'm new to the wizarding world and I don't know how the money system works here..." she said.
"And?" it sniffed.
"And I was hoping you weren't too busy to explain it too me," she finished.
"Here," it said, tossing a brochure her way.
"Thanks," she mumbled, putting the coin sacks in her bag and shouldering it.
She looked over the brochure on the way to exit the bank, Sirius in the lead. On the front were the words:
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
Roxanne suddenly felt a little uneasy around the wicked black eyes of the creatures in the bank. She hastened her step until she and Sirius were out the bank and back among the crowds of the shopping center. The dog was still leading, so she took time the read the brochure. She skipped over the brief history of Gringotts on the first page and flipped through until she came to a chart displaying some of the coins she'd seen in the sacks. The gold one was called Galleons, the silver was Sickles and the bronzes were Knuts. Simple enough.
Sirius stopped them in front of another building. This was a little friendlier than Gringotts, if not a bit shoddy and run down. A sign hung over the door reading 'Tourne's Crest Inn'. She walked up a small set of creaking wooden stairs and entered the Inn. The check-in room was small and smelled a little moldy to Roxanne's nose. Still, she assumed Sirius had a reason for choosing this place and headed up to the front desk. There was no one behind the desk, but a small gold bell sat atop the dusty wooden counter. Roxanne hit the bell once and nearly jumped out of her skin when a loud crack sounded after the ring. Out of the blue, a person appeared behind the desk.
Roxanne had expected an old man, perhaps with one eye or one leg, to run an Inn like this. Her assumptions were dashed away by the appearance of a young man, not too far from her own age, as the operator of the check-in desk.
"Can I help you, miss?" he asked, smiling brightly.
A rather handsome check-in desk operator at that. "I'd like a room. For me and my dog, please."
"Dog?" he repeated.
The young man hadn't noticed Sirius sitting there beside Roxanne until she brought it to his attention.
"Didn't see you there, boy. Big dog. What's his name?" he asked.
"Snuffles," she replied.
"Snuffles? That's an interesting name. Is yours as unique?"
"Roxanne isn't a very unique name."
"Neither is Will, but I get by. How long will you be staying here?"
"Ah... one day for now," she decided.
"Only one? Too bad," Will sighed. "I don't get many pretty girls working in here. It's my family's place and my father's gone sick the past week."
"Sorry to hear that," she replied.
"Six Galleons**, Roxanne," he tallied up.
She once again dug through her bag until she picked out six large gold coins. She put them in Will's open palm, only to have him take her hand, letting the coins clatter onto the counter. Roxanne looked at him in surprise.
"Couldn't you maybe stay a day longer? For free, my father won't have to know," he offered. "You seem nice and... I wouldn't mind getting to know you, Roxanne."
Roxanne blinked at him. "What...?"
"Please? Just dinner tonight, perhaps? Right here at Diagon Alley, nothing fancy, I swear," he pleaded.
"I... I, uh, need some time to think about that one, Will. Could I perhaps have my key?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"Right..." he sighed, letting go of her hand.
Will grabbed a key ring off a nail on the wall and gestured for Roxanne to follow him up the stairs. They stopped at the second floor at one of the first doors. Will unlocked the door for her.
"There's a key for your use on the bedside bureau," he told her.
"Thanks," she replied, turning to go into the room.
"Wait..." he said, setting a hand on her shoulder.
Roxanne turned to the young man, one brow raised in question.
"I'm sorry about how desperate I must have sounded downstairs. Please consider, Roxanne," he asked of her.
He moved a step closer than was comfortable for Roxanne. Will jumped at the sound of a deep feral growl at his feet. He quickly backed away from Roxanne when he laid eyes on the large black dog, fur standing up on his back. One bark was all it took to send Will flying down the hall and running down the stairs. It wasn't too difficult to imagine him hiding behind the check-in desk. Sirius transformed into his human form as he walked into the room, scowling.
Roxanne followed him in, closing the door behind them. "Thanks, Black. Are all wizards like that..?"
"Not all them," he grumbled, sitting on the bed in his panda shirt and flannel pants.
"Mind explaining what those things at the bank were?" she asked, setting her bag on the bedside bureau.
"Trolls. They're the reason why Gringotts is the safest place in the world to keep your money," he replied.
"I can see why," she said, remembering the poem on the Gringotts brochure. "Are we staying the night or something?"
"Maybe. But first, you're going on a little shopping spree," he told her.
"Shopping?" Roxanne repeated, brightly.
"Without me, I'm afraid. I can't risk being seen too often. I don't want people to begin to notice a big black dog travelling around where there have been Sirius Black sightings," he grumbled.
"How about a Muggle girl at the scene of the sightings?" Roxanne asked, frowning.
Sirius looked up at her from where he sat. "I hadn't thought of that... Well, that won't be a very good link, seeing as you're not coming the full way with me."
"What...?"
"I can't take you to Hogwarts. It'll be hard enough hiding myself. Besides, that's where I'm most likely to be caught and I rather you be somewhere safer," he explained. "But we'll have a while before it comes to that. Don't worry about it for now. Focus on shopping. All girls like shopping, right?"
Roxanne raised a brow at him.
"Right..." Sirius said, thinking. "I'll write you up a list. You'll probably need a few things, too..."
He opened the bureau drawer and found a quill next to a small half-empty bottle of black ink, but not a stitch of parchment. He tried the second drawer with similar results. Before he broke out into a stream of curses, Roxanne held out a piece of white paper she'd taken from her journal. Sirius took it with a grateful nod and began scrolling out a list of unusual supplies.
"By the way, this is Diagon Alley. We're under London right now," he informed her.
"That explains why I've never seen this place before," she sighed.
"That and there's a few anti-Muggle magical bindings on the entrance," he added. "Here you go. I wrote the name of the store next to each item. If you see a group of wizards wearing hooded black cloaks, come back here as soon as you can manage. They could be Death Eaters or Dementors."
"Right," she said, taking the slip of paper.
"And, Roxanne?"
"Hmm?"
"Be... be careful, alright? I shouldn't be sending you out to do these things, but I can't risk someone from Hogwarts seeing me and---"
"It's alright, Black. You didn't ask me along, I volunteered, remember?"
"Yea," he sighed. "Don't talk to anyone if they tell you their name is Severus Snape."
"Er... alright... I'll try to be quick," she said, grabbing the room key and walking out.
Roxanne was sure to lock the door before she left. She wouldn't want Will or any of the guests at the Inn to walk in and find Sirius Black. Roxanne got as far as the check-in room before she remembered that Will was still lurking around. She peered into the room and found the young man sitting behind the desk, writing a letter to someone. As quickly as she could, Roxanne dashed past him and out the Inn door.
The girl let out a deep sigh of relief as she headed down the Inn steps and returned to a bustling Diagon Alley. She took Sirius's list from her pocket and looked it over.
men's black cloak,
woman's black cloak,
men's pants and shirt,
men's shoes -- all from Ferryton's Outfitters
Roxanne noticed there were sizes marked next to all the men's clothing, but nothing next to hers. She grinned when she found he had written a size, then hurriedly scribbled it out after thinking better of it. Smart man.
gray unicorn-hair 8 1/2 inch wand
buy yourself a wand, too -- Ollivander's
Medical Essentials kit -- Ringle's Potion Supplier
Daily Prophet - Flourish and Blotts
Flourish and Blotts? Roxanne remembered seeing the store on the way to Gringotts. She was glad she would have a reason to go in. She had wanted to take a look at the magical book selections... Maybe she could teach herself a few spells when she had spare moments. She came to Ferryton's Outfitters before Flourish and Blotts, though, and went in.
So far, everything appeared to be the same as your average clothing store, aside from the strange garments being sold. Roxanne went to work and headed over to a cloak rack. She spotted some men's cloaks and began to search for a black one in Sirius's size.
"The women's cloaks are on the left of the store, deary," came a sugary voice.
Roxanne turned around to find a tall, blond witch smiling at her with unnaturally white teeth. Her lavender pointed hat was set on her head on an angle to match her flowing lavender robes. Roxanne sincerely hoped her cloak didn't resemble the flower garment the sales-witch donned.
"Oh, I know. I'm looking for my.. er.. husband..." she lied.
"Your husband?" the witch asked, surprised. "Are you newly weds?"
"Yea, three weeks," she stretched the lie.
"Really? I have something that would interest a newly wed couple. Follow me, please."
Roxanne followed the witch, mentally kicking herself. Why had she said husband? She could have said brother, friend, boss, cousin, nephew, uncle, father, neighborhood bum, anything. But she said husband. And now she was paying because the witch took her straight to the lingerie section of the store.
"Er... listen, ah..." Roxanne said.
"Sally."
"Sally. I'm not really interested in buying... those type of things," she told her.
"Don't be silly! You want to keep the spark in your marriage, right? Look at this one!" Sally squealed, holding up a laced red cloth, too skimpy to be identifiable.
"No, no... That's all right! I rather not. I would really appreciate help with what I came here to buy, though, Sally," Roxanne said, returning the lingerie to their stand.
Sally sighed, somewhat deflated. "Alright, then. Let's see what you need..."
Ten minutes later, Roxanne left the store with a full bag of clothing. She dashed across the pathway to Flourish and Blotts, thankful bookstores didn't sell lingerie of any kind. She decided to have a look around before she bought the Daily Prophet for Sirius. The store was fairly crowded, to her surprise. Maybe wizards were more intellectual than Muggles.
Roxanne hurried over to the Spells and Incantations section. She yanked a beginner's guide off the shelf and flipped through. She stopped when she realized the photos in the book were... moving. The wand in the picture was actually waving in the sequence being taught. A grin crossed her lips. That's one buy. She made her way through the Potions, Dark Arts, History and Charms sections, taking a book from each.
After fifteen minutes of glorious book hunting, Roxanne hefted a stack of six text books onto the front counter of the store. The man behind the counter began to tally up the price for her. While he took care of that, she glanced around the store. There were three rather scruffy looking men crowded around a Dark Arts book, giving Roxanne the occasional calculating glance. Something about the way the thugs eyed her reminded her all too vividly of Rick.
She turned her gaze to the opposite side of the store where she spotted a man standing, face hidden by a newspaper. His robes were a bit ragged and tattered at the edge of one sleeve. There were spots where there were patches of fabric sewed over holes or rips. Roxanne took note of the newspaper, wondering if wizards read the Muggle news. No, this paper was one she'd never seen before, the Daily Prophet. Roxanne blinked, remembering her initial cause for being here.
"Excuse me, could I also purchase one of those Daily Prophets?" she asked the sales-wizard.
The man raised a brow at her. "You mean a subscription."
"No, just the current one will be fine," she replied.
The three men gathered round the Dark Arts book erupted into snickers and murmurs. Roxanne ignored them. The salesman shook his head.
"Listen, I don't have the time to deal with you young people and your jokes," he grumbled.
"Jokes? I'm serious. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, sir. You see, this is really my first day in the wizarding world. I was considered a... Muggle yesterday. I'm not really sure of everything in this world just yet," she explained.
As soon as the word 'Muggle' escaped her lips, the three thuggish men's snickers were silenced. She glanced over a brief moment and found them all staring at her with malicious glares. Roxanne decided not to look over at them anymore.
"Why didn't you say so?" the man sighed. "Alright, the only way to purchase a Daily Prophet is to subscribe and have it owled to you."
"Owled...?" she repeated.
"You are pretty green, aren't you? An owl will bring latest issues to you. Fill out the subscription form with your addresses and the like so it can find you," he told her, handing her a sheet of paper.
"Oh... alright. Well, I'll just get the books for now. I'll bring the form here later..." she sighed. "How much?"
A wide grin crossed his lips. "Fifty galleons."
Roxanne snorted. "I'm not that green, sir."
"Oh well. You can't blame me for trying," he sighed. "Two galleons, five knuts."
"That's more like it," she chuckled, fishing through her pockets for the proper coins.
She paid the man and took her book filled bag.
"Since you're so new, you should probably buy a book about more than magic," he told her. "In the General section towards the back there are free brochures and maps. I recommend taking one of each."
"Really? Free...?"
"I can't charge for brochures."
"Alright then. Thanks."
Roxanne made her way towards the back of the store. She had to force herself not to look at any books or else she'd probably end up making a few more purchases. Her eyes searched for the General rack amid the confusing rows of books.
"Muggle, are you?"
Roxanne spun around, startled. A strange man was leaning against a Charms bookshelf, eyes narrowed at her. She recognized him as one of the three men she'd spotted reading a Dark Arts book at the storefront.
"Not anymore, thank you," she replied, shortly.
"Once you're a Muggle, you're never anything else," he told her coolly. "I don't suppose you'd know what this is, new comer?"
He slid a long, thin green stick out of his left pocket, holding it in front of him with his right hand. Roxanne began to get a bad feeling about this situation. Maybe she should have gone to Olivander's first...
"It's a wand. I don't have the time to explain it to you, but I'm sure there's a helpful book in here somewhere for someone of your... intelligence, hmm?" she answered, rather cheekily.
The man stared at her, taken aback a moment. A fire filled his eyes and he raised his wand arm.
"Not yet, Zan," another voice said.
Zan's two pals made their way over, Dark Arts book still clutched in one of their hands.
"Just take her with us. We need someone to test out these spells on, anyway," one of them reminded.
"Come on, one spell now to hold me?" Zan asked, scowling at Roxanne.
His two friends exchanged glances, grinned, then nodded. "Just don't kill her. Not yet."
"Thank you. Now, Miss Muggle---"
"I don't think so!" Roxanne exclaimed, bringing her knee up to meet her attacker's gut.
Zan doubled over, caught off guard. Before he could realize what had just happened, Roxanne whacked him clean across the head with her bag full of heavy hard-back textbooks. The man fell to the ground, groaning and holding his head and gut. His two friends looked on, wide-eyed. Roxanne spotted his wand lying beside him. She stooped and grabbed it before he could reach for it. She mimicked how she had remembered him holding his wand, aiming it at the two men standing behind their fallen companion.
"Veni Vidi Vici!" she exclaimed.
A little puff of smoke escaped the wand. Roxanne's heart dropped to her stomach. She didn't know any spells. What use would a wand be to her? The two men were now grinning at her, amused. Zan cursed, beginning to stand up.
"Damn... ah... Voila!! No. Umm... Bibidi Babadi Boo! Why did I even try...? Umm.." Roxanne thought hard of any word she had ever heard in a magical children's book. "Abra Kedabra!"
The three men froze, grins fading. The wand shuddered in her grasp. Roxanne thought she had something.
"Abra Ked---"
"Expelliarmus!" one of the two standing men exclaimed.
Roxanne cried out as the wand was yanked from her grip, falling at Zan's feet. Now she was in trouble. Zan reclaimed his weapon, glaring murderously at Roxanne.
"Try to kill me will you, you Muggle brat?" he grumbled. "Cru--"
"Expelliarmus!" a shout came.
Suddenly, all three men's wands flew from their hands and to their right. Roxanne's gaze followed the wands to where they came to rest in the hand of a man in ragged, patched robes. She recognized him immediately as the man she had spotted reading the Daily Prophet. He was fairly taller than she had originally thought, with a head of gray-speckled light brown hair. His expression was calm, but his amber eyes bore a glint of anger and disgust for the three men whose wands he had collected.
"Forgive my interruption, gentlemen, but I just thought you should know that the back of a popular bookstore isn't the ideal choice for an assault scene," the man said, walking over.
He pointed his wand at the trio and muttered a phrase Roxanne didn't quite understand. The three went stiff as their hands flew behind their backs. They struggled as if they had been put into handcuffs. A blue cloaked man arrived with his own wand.
"I'll take it from here. Thank you, sir," he said to the man in the tattered cloak.
The blue cloaked man left with the trio walking in front of him, grumbling and struggling against their invisible bindings. They couldn't run off, not when the other man held all three of their wands plus his own, pointed at the trio's backs. Now Roxanne was alone with her rescuer. He turned to her once Zan and his friends were escorted away.
"Are you alright?" was his first question, as expected.
"Fine and thanks a lot, by the way," she said, grinning.
The man stooped down a moment and picked up the two bags she had dropped when she dove for Zan's wand. He held them out to her with a smile on his face.
"Thanks," she said, taking them back. "Good thing I didn't buy anything made of glass..."
"I should hope not," he agreed. "I couldn't help but overhear you when you were buying those books. It may be a safe idea not to tell anyone else exactly how new you are."
"I always learn the hard way," she sighed. "Well, I suppose I'll buy myself a wand first, since I'll probably be mugged once or twice more today."
The man looked at her a moment, thinking. "If you wouldn't mind company, I could come along with you while you shop. Since you plan on two more muggings, that is."
Roxanne looked at the stranger in surprise. This man had never met her before in her life, and had just saved her life. Now he was offering to stay with her to avoid any further unpleasant situations. Could she trust this man? For all she knew he could have seen her arrive in Diagon Alley with Sirius in his Animagus form. Maybe he knew Sirius was with her and she could lead him to the convict.
All her suspicions were pushed into the back of her mind when she gazed on his friendly countenance. This man didn't seem very malicious to her. It would be all right to have him along, just with some caution.
"Sure, that sounds like a good idea, seeing as I'm pretty clueless," she immediately agreed. "I'm Roxanne Callisto, by the way."
She swore she saw the man's smile flicker a moment as she spoke her own name. It took him a moment to respond.
"Remus Lupin.